


(Please Don’t) Come Back

by Markirya



Series: What They Saw [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: First Crush, Fluff and Angst, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Kitagawa Daiichi, M/M, Middle School, Pre King of the Court, Puppy Love, Side Story, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23223295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Markirya/pseuds/Markirya
Summary: From Kageyama, Kunimi learned friendship, loyalty and love. He also learned betrayal, pain and heartbreak. Kageyama was everything to him, at one point, and that’s why he had to let him go.Semi-alternative version of the King of the Court story.Originally part of “He Saw (It Was Too Late)”, but it stands on its own, no need to read it to understand.
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Kunimi Akira
Series: What They Saw [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669756
Comments: 2
Kudos: 60





	(Please Don’t) Come Back

**Author's Note:**

> I can’t let KuniKage go, even in my KageTsukki fic.  
> This somehow became its own fic, it took too much focus from KageTsukki.  
> So it became a side-story. Yay!  
> This ship will be the death of me.

Kageyama was his first crush, ever. They were still too young, just starting middle school, but somehow they were attracted to each other. Maybe it was because they repelled everyone else.

Kunimi remembered finding school annoying, everyone talking too much, classes going on too long and not being able to take a nap anymore. 

His first clear memory, however, is of a boy with wide-blue eyes- he’d never seen someone with blue eyes before, being dragged by a funny-looking boy, black hair spiky and messy. He turned out to be Kindaichi, as he loudly introduced himself. 

“This is Kageyama. He doesn’t talk much, but said he saw you playing volleyball at the local gym once.” 

Kunimi looked at the boy. Black hair and blue eyes that looked intently at him, challenging him to say it wasn’t true. He had, indeed, gone to a sports camp that summer, forced by his mother, but he couldn’t remember seeing Kageyama, and something told him he would remember him if he had. He told them as much. 

“I didn’t go. I just go there sometimes.” Kageyama muttered, eyes fixed on the ground. Then he looked at Kunimi and they stared at each other, assessing the other in a way that only children could. 

Kageyama nodded at him, and he nodded back. That was the start of their friendship.

Kindaichi kept hanging around them, filling the silence that mostly surrounded the other two boys. Kunimi didn’t mind all that much, since Kindaichi talked about volleyball and interesting stuff. Kageyama sometimes joined in, but mostly went along with Kindaichi and stared silently at the ground, or up at the sky. Kunimi did more or less the same, and he wondered why Kindaichi even bothered with them. 

After a while, he realised he looked forward to school, and figured out it was Kageyama he missed during the weekends. He felt a little bad for not missing Kindaichi, he was still his friend, but Kageyama made him happy. He liked sitting with him during the breaks, he liked sharing his milk with him and talking in soft voices hidden away from the noisy kids.

First years weren’t allowed to participate in club activities until the second term, something about getting used first to the system, but Kageyama snuck into the gym often, following their older classmate’s moves with wide eyes. It was one of the few things that made Kageyama light up. The other, and Kunimi felt extremely proud, was spending time with him. So he went with Kageyama to watch the team play, and they stopped trying to shoo them away after a week. It was fun, after a while, and he thought he could learn to love the sport. 

He wanted to love it, desperately so, because Kageyama loved it, so he started going with him during the weekends to throw the ball around with him, learn how to serve. Kageyama was good, he had practice since he was little, and Kunimi’s day was better when Kageyama looked delighted when he hit the ball just right. 

Kindaichi sometimes joined them, and at first he didn’t like it, but soon found out it was a different kind of fun, and Kageyama always seemed surprised and happy when Kindaichi was there. 

Kunimi never knew it was a crush, not until years later. At that moment, he just thought Kageyama was so cool and was always warm, while Kunimi was boring and tended to have cold hands. One day, however, Kageyama took his hand between his to warm them up, and suddenly his whole body felt warm and he smiled. Kageyama looked shocked but smiled back eventually. 

They started holding hands after that day, when no one was around. Something told them it was better that way. Kindaichi saw, but he was Kindaichi so it was fine, he joked about them now being even more like a couple, but no one took him seriously. It wasn’t something they thought about, couples, and maybe they were old enough that they should have, but they didn’t, that was just the way they were. 

They walked hand in hand, they shared their lunch, they were always together and they would join forces against Kindaichi when he became annoying. Kunimi took to eating his lunch quickly so that he had time to lean against Kageyama’s shoulder and rest his eyes. He couldn’t remember how it started but Kageyama never said anything, just moved around to accommodate his head better. Sometimes, if Kunimi was lucky, he could get away with napping on his friend’s lap- his best friend's lap. He loved those days, feeling the air around him turn warm from Kageyama’s body heat, feel his real, solid body surrounding him. He started feigning sleep the day he realised Kageyama would tread his fingers through his hair when he thought Kunimi wouldn’t notice. It was nice and relaxing and sometimes it made him actually fall asleep. It was the best feeling in the world. 

The teachers didn’t seem to agree with him completely, often giving the boys wary glances, but they never did anything about it. They were obedient, did their homework in time, and the teacher knew how they had struggled at first to make friends. All in all they let them be. 

* * *

Then the first term came to an end and they had holidays, and at first it sucked because he didn’t get to see Kageyama often. They started meeting at the local gym, as always, playing around with other kids when they were invited, but mostly passing the volleyball between them silently, then sitting outside, thighs pressed to each other, and talking about their days, their homes, their families. Anything, everything, until it became time to run to make it home before curfew. 

It was one of those days when Kunimi felt an urge, a strange stirring in his belly. He told Kageyama that he felt weir, and immediately the other boy offered his hand to him, getting up and telling him in no uncertain terms that he was taking him home. Kunimi smiled, and somehow it made him feel even more strange. They walked side by side, Kageyama subtly fretting over him every half second. Kunimi did what seemed to be the only logical thing to do at the time. 

He stopped, grabbed Kageyama’s cheeks and pressed his lips against Kageyama’s with a smacking sound.

“I’m fine, you worry too much.” 

Kageyama just looked stunned as he pressed his fingers to his mouth. He shook his head, smiled- he had this nice smile he didn’t show often enough, and kept walking, pulling on Kunimi’s hand once again.

They never talked about it, they just started kissing every time they could, meaning every time no one was watching. They weren’t ashamed, at least Kunimi wasn’t, but he knew people wouldn’t get it, wouldn’t understand them. Wouldn’t understand how Kageyama was so important to him, how beautiful and nice he was, They wouldn’t understand how much the other boy cared for him, too, and how Kunimi was sure they would never, ever, stop being friends. 

Most importantly, he liked kissing Kageyama. It was soft and warm and made him feel tingly and happy. Maybe this was the thing he’d grow to love, as his mother had said when Kunimi had told her he had no favourite things. Well, Kageyama was his favourite person, his favourite friend, and his kisses were his favourite thing. Even playing volleyball became one of his favourite things, as long as it was with Kageyama.

* * *

It didn’t last, of course it didn’t, nothing lasts forever, especially the things that most seemed like they would. Classes resumed and with it, the try-outs for the volleyball team. 

Kunimi followed Kageyama, of course he did, and Kindaichi followed them too. He was happy, for a while. Kageyama was always excited for the day to be over, and he ended up dragging Kunimi to the gym every day- that was enough for Kunimi. They were always partened up together in some way, Kageyama, Kindaichi and him, and Coach told them in secret that it was because he saw something promising in them. Kunimi felt nice, but Kageyama beamed. He started training hard, even during the weekends, he rarely talked about anything else. 

He started trying to get Oikawa, one of their upperclassmen, to help, getting cruelly refused time and time again. It made Kunimi angry at Oikawa, he was sure the older boy was doing it because he was afraid of how good his best friend was becoming. He was also angry at Kageyama, though he could never show it, because how couldn’t he see that he wasn’t wanted, that Kunimi wanted him, not Oikawa. He was frustrated because it seemed like the only way to hold Kageyama’s attention was if you had something he didn’t in terms of game play or technique. Kunimi didn’t have any of those things. Wasn’t he good enough anymore? 

Weeks went by and they gradually stopped kissing, it wasn’t harsh and it didn’t hurt- too much, it was as though they simply didn’t have the time anymore. Well, Kageyama didn’t have the time anymore. 

Kunimi still supported him, through every time he left Kunimi and Kindaichi to train alone to get advice from his older teammates. Stood by him even if the days of walking home together were less and less frequent, as Kageyama would stay late to practice his serve, or decide he was going to jog home. He also stayed by his side even when, on those few days they did walk together, Kageyama was distracted and talking exclusively of volleyball, hands waving in the air in such a way that he forgot to hold his hand. He stood silently by, until the end of that year, at least. 

When the new year arrived, Kunimi had barely seen Kageyama during the break, sulking when he only had Kindaichi for company. He liked Kindaichi, he was his closest friend besides Kageyama, but Kageyama was different. He was… something different, he meant something different, though he didn’t know what. 

Still, and as it was bound to happen, he became bitter, started resenting Kageyama and his stupid brain filled with volleyball and Oikawa, even when the boy had already graduated. The year went by and Kageyama was unbeatable, relentless, no one could touch him- he was beautiful on the court. 

He had tried to reconnect with Kunimi, sometime during their last term, and they kind of worked for a while. It was strained, they never held hands and Kunimi tipped his head back into the wall when he wanted to rest his head. Kageyama was trying, but Kunimi couldn’t let go of the betrayal he had felt, of how alone he was during those long months. Still, they awkwardly made it work until they were once again starting to get comfortable with each other. Kunimi had fallen asleep with his head on the roof floor and had woken up resting on Kageyama’s thigh, the boy looking down at him timidly, tentatively. Kunimi felt a little stiff, but he placed his head back against his friend’s lap and pretended to sleep, feeling tense all the while. 

Kindaichi had stopped hanging out with them for the most part, and sometimes, when it was most awkward between Kageyama and him, he missed his messy-haired, loud friend. Kindaichi looked annoyed all the time, glaring a him and huffing when Kunimi tried to approach him, so he stopped trying. He had Kageyama after all. 

Then their last year of middle school rolled around and everything went to shit. 

* * *

Kageyama once again started overworking himself, started muttering about how this was their last year, how they simply had to win. 

This time, Kunimi didn’t stand by him. In fact, he started lashing out in small ways. He gradually stopped waiting for Kageyama after practice, he’d stop looking at him and started ignoring him when he talked about volleyball. He always made sure Kindaichi sat between them, Kindaichi who had come back to them at one point, and he shut down Kageyama every chance he got. He never let him speak, mocked him when he did, dismissed his ideas for practice and basically dismissed him as a person. 

Kageyama looked confused at first, wary and desolate, like he couldn’t understand why Kunimi was doing all those things to him. Kunimi liked it, in a strange and twisted way, he liked that for once it was Kageyama the one left staring after him, Kageyama looking lost and confused. For a while. 

Then Kageyama became angry, he stopped looking at Kunimi and trained even harder than ever before. He poured everything he had into every practice, easily maintaining his position as main setter, even though he was making everyone uneasy. Kunimi felt something uncomfortable in his chest, felt like maybe he hadn’t done things the right way, in fact, he knew he had made it worse. He stood by his actions, though, and Kageyama kept getting further away. 

It pained him, it really did, and Kunimi found himself aching to go and hug his best friend- former best friend, beg for forgiveness and tell him everything was going to be okay. He felt Kageyama slipping through his fingers, along with everything they had been not so long ago. 

One night he realised that he had loved Kageyama, had fallen in love with him, and cried himself to sleep. The next day he was colder than ever to the setter, not even meeting his eyes. It was the only way he thought he would be able to manage the pain of realising that he’d lost Kageyama. Thinking that maybe he had jumped to conclusions at the start of the year, that maybe if he hadn’t withdrawn, if he had just been there for him, Kageyama wouldn’t have turned into the monster he was becoming. 

* * *

It was their last match, and everyone was waiting, everything was set up. Today they were going to dethrone the King. 

Kunimi hadn’t cried for Kageyama, hadn’t done so for months now, it was just bitterness, resentment, hurt and betrayal. Pain. 

That day, however, he cried. He cried for all that they had been, for everything they could’ve been, together. For everything that Kageyama could have become, and how Kunimi could have been right there beside him. He cried angry tears and hated Kageyama for throwing their friendship- and Kunimi’s heart, away, for so easily letting him go, for caring about no one but himself. 

He hated himself for not trying hard enough. He also hated Kageyama for making him feel that way, when he’d done all he could to keep the boy by his side. 

Kindaichi sat besides him in complete silence until Kunimi had no more tears left to cry. After a minute, he stood up and wiped his tears, then Kindaichi walked to him and squeezed his shoulder. His voice was resolute, not unkind, but firm. 

“Let him go.” 

Kunimi did. 


End file.
